Policy & Practice | Summer 2026

personal check-ins. Just figures, facts, policies, and deadlines. I was left to figure out the rest on my own. I saw the information to appeal the decision, but I had been down that road before and it felt like a waste of time. My family was just a case number. I had to accept that there was no one coming to save us. I knew that without a plan, my family was going nowhere fast. And that was simply unacceptable. Once again, I found myself pon dering my choices. I remembered my mother having to access benefits during my childhood after my father left the marriage and home, leaving my mother with five kids to raise on her own. Years later, after she had a new career and had created stability for our family, she said to me, “There is nothing wrong with getting what you need to get to where you’re going. If you need services, get them and use them to help you get to your next place.” She told me how she put aside her pride and used human services to take care of us while she returned to the workforce after 16 years of being a stay-at-home mom. It took her several years to work her way up the ladder in social work, but she did it. She had a vision that my sisters and I would all succeed, and we did. All five of us graduated from college with at least one degree and four of us have two degrees. I was inspired by my mother's per severance. There is an ancient proverb that says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” I had 30 days to figure out a plan before I lost my benefits. I went back to my checkbook, got back down on my knees, and wrote out a vision for my family. During that time, I was blessed to work for a nonprofit organization with connections to agencies that provided us with information for services and resources for families in the community. As a result, not only was I able to become a bridge for other families, but I was able to access those resources myself. Resources like discounted summer camp for affordable child care for my kids, a discounted grocery store that helped my small cash food budget stretch, free tutoring, heating assistance grants to help me with the high winter bills, and financial planning programs to give me new tools for saving, investing, and rebuilding my credit. Step-by-step,

groceries, let alone medical expenses. The numbers didn’t lie. Like roughly 38 million other U.S. households, I lacked the minimum average income needed to afford the basic costs in my county. I needed help. “At least I still have the WIC, SNAP, and Medicaid benefits I qualified for after my ex-husband lost his job before the divorce. They’ll provide some additional support until I can earn more at work,” I thought. That was until I went to the mailbox. See, I had reported my new income to my caseworker, like a respon sible, law-abiding citizen should, and it seemed that, as a reward for my honesty, my food assistance was being cut off. Apparently, my income was slightly above the allowable threshold—by less than $100, in fact. Now you tell me how a single mother is supposed to feed a 3- and 6-year-old for a month with $100? The next notice I received informed me that since I was now getting medical insurance from my job, my Medicaid benefits would involve a spend-down. That meant that I would have to track the expenses monthly and if they exceeded the amount listed, Medicaid would pay it. The problem was that amount was exorbitant and the only way that I could meet it was if my son had major surgery every month. My new insur ance from my job was a blessing, but it still left me with copays that didn’t fit my meager household budget. I can’t tell you how many nights I prayed and begged God not to let my kids get sick because I couldn’t afford to take them to the doctor. It was beyond frus trating to be making more money but doing worse. Just when I thought I was getting ahead, the target moved again. It wasn’t fair. I was a hard worker. I was responsible with my money. I had a college degree. I wanted a reprieve. I wanted financial stability. I wanted to give my children the life I always dreamed they would have. I just needed a little help to get there after life took an unexpected turn. The problem was there was no one at the human services office to tell that to or to provide me with guidance on how I could do more than tread water as they were ripping benefits away from me. There was no extended grace period. No success coaching. No

That evening when I got home, I pulled out my checkbook and started playing russian roulette with the numbers. I needed to determine my new normal. I had just landed a full time job in the profession I had studied for, with great potential. It even came with benefits, but the starting salary still placed me in the bracket of the Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed (ALICE) population, other wise known as “the working poor.” With two incomes, it would have moved my family out of poverty. But as a divorcee, after the rent, car payment, gas, electric bill, and Internet, I could barely afford

THE HUMAN IN HUMAN SERVICES

Erinna M. Hinds is a certified change man agement consultant and a professional family mediator who is passionate about

working with com munity, state, and faith-based organiza tions to help families successfully navigate change, transition, and crisis. For the last 20 years, she has dedicated her life to advocating for and empower ing at-risk families. In addition to being an advocate for victims of domestic abuse in the faith-based community, published author, and international speaker, Erinna serves on the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Office of Child Support Advisory Council and is an active participant in the Michigan Child Support Program. Inspired by her own lived experience, she founded The Divorce Preacher Family Mediation Services, a faith-based consult ing firm specializing in mediation for child support, custody, and parenting time in high-conflict and/or abusive situations. She also coaches executive leaders and teams on how to effectively implement sustain able organizational change. Erinna is a proud graduate of Howard University and Cornerstone University, and a member of the Association of Change Management Professionals.

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